05/07/2017 Daily Politics


05/07/2017

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LineFromTo

Morning, folks, welcome to the Daily Politics.

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The Grenfell Tower disaster looks set to loom large again today,

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as we reach the Prime Minister's own deadline for offering

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But are Labour MPs right to call for the head

:00:48.:00:51.

Theresa May has to umpire the argument in the Conservative

:00:52.:00:58.

Party over public sector pay, but does she have the authority

:00:59.:01:00.

Grenfell and austerity are both subjects likely to come up

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when Theresa May faces Jeremy Corbyn at Prime Minister's Questions,

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we'll have all the extended action live at noon.

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Yes, I wouldn't argue that that is strictly accurate, no doubt

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complimentary and it sounds like a car advert.

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We'll be looking at the Conservative MP who's become an unlikely

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All that in the next 90 minutes of public service broadcasting

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so good you won't even think about turning over

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Is Wimbledon on the other channel? I think so. Very well. Bye, bye.

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We're trusting you to make the right decision.

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And speaking of being second choice, we're joined today

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by Westminster's answer to Henman and Rusedski,

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minister Steve Baker, and shadow health secretary

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So PMQs is just half an hour away, and we're expecting the Prime

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Minister to be asked about the response to the Grenfell

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Today marks the deadline she gave for ensuring all those affected

:02:24.:02:27.

are found a new home, and officials say all survivors

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of the fire who want to be rehoused have been offered temporary

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accommodation, although many are still in hotels.

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The Government has also said it will send in a taskforce to take

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over parts of Kensington and Chelsea Council,

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which has been widely criticised for its response.

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There have also been calls at Westminster for the judge leading

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the inquiry into the fire, he's called Sir Martin

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Labour MP for Tottenham, David Lammy, said Sir Martin

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Moore-Bick was "a white, upper middle class man who I suspect

:03:00.:03:02.

has never visited a tower block housing estate" and should "never

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Yesterday Emma Dent Coad, the new Labour MP for Kensington,

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called the judge "a technocrat" who lacks "credibility" and said

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he should be replaced by "somebody who can understand human beings."

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Chris Williamson, Labour's shadow fire services minister

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said he had been shown, in previous court cases to "err

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on the side of the establishment rather than on the side of ordinary

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people" and should be replaced by "a more appropriate" judge.

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So what do you think? A technocrat, lacks credibility, somebody with a

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human face is needed. What say you? I would say that he should carry on

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with the inquiry. He should be allowed to get on with it. There are

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clearly concerns from people in the local area and I hope he can move

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quickly to allay their concerns, involve them. The residents' groups

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have made some suggestions about having a panel to work alongside

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him. I hope those suggestions can be taken on board. The key thing now is

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not to personalise it around him. The key thing is that the inquiry,

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that we get on with it and it is a wider inquiry, looking at all the

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issues. Local MPs, I understand why they would speak out in very

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passionate terms, given what has happened in the area that they

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represent. But I think the key thing now is we let him get on with it.

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Chris Williamson, the shadow fire minister is not a local MP, he is on

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the Labour front bench. What is it with some of your colleagues? Is

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this a class thing? Do they think a judge, wept to Cambridge,

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double-barrelled name, sort of accent that most High Court judges

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in this country have, do they think he just doesn't understand areas and

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the people of Grenfell Tower? I guess that's some of it. I'm from a

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working class background. I don't necessarily have a problem with him.

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The challenge for him is when he does Is inquiry is that he

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demonstrates he knows the concerns of the people of the area and when

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he comes up with proper, meaty conclusions but I think the key

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thing is to let him get on with it and not personalise it around him. I

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don't think that would do justice to anyone. The significance is not that

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although one of your shadow ministers has called for him to go,

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and the local MP, but Mr Corbyn isn't calling for his resignation?

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Jeremy is not. Jeremy quite rightly raised concerns and spoken on behalf

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of the residents and taken up some of their points about having an

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expert panel and wanting greater involvement and for the inquiry to

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be wide enough to look at the broader issues around social

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housing. You have to be careful not to make it so wide that it is 2025

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before it reports. Quite. You can do inquiries in different ways. You can

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have an initial report that looks at the precivic circumstances of the

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fire and a wider report that looks at the broader issues, which I think

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is the point that Jeremy has been making in recent days.

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It would seem that your front bench, you are almost as dysfunctional as

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the Tories with different views coming out from everywhere.

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Collective Cabinet and Shadow Cabinet collective be responsibility

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is a rare breed? I have read the Foreign Secretary saying one thing

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and the Environment Secretary. You are making my point. You lot are

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doing the same. If I may, I think this is far too important to be used

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as a political football. I welcome what Jonathan has said. I would

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agree with Jonathan that he should be able to get on with it. We are

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consulting the terms of reference of the inquiry and it is right that he

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should be allowed to get on. I want him to succeed and as quickly as

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possible. Meanwhile the Prime Minister's promise that all those

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affected should be rehoused has not been met in the spirit of what we

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thought the Prime Minister meant. Some have accepted some

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accommodation and many have been offered homes in towers, which could

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be frightening or didn't have enough rooms for their families. The Prime

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Minister has already apologised earlier for the response. It doesn't

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seem to be getting much better. Well to see the tower is to understand

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we've had a catastrophe of a kind we could never have foreseen and we

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know people have been through hell. It would be wrong to force them out

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of hotels and into temporary accommodation. I don't think anybody

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is suggesting that. We are suggesting they are offered an

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accommodation that given the terrible ordeal they have been

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through, They would feel comfortable N they would be able to have their

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families with them. Comfortable in. That is what we want to do. We don't

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want people to be forced to move twice when it is not what they want

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to do. There is new housing coming online, including the Barclay homes

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low rise that will become available. If people want to avoid going into

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temporary accommodation and going straight into a permanent home we

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want to work with them at their pace to put them in the right home. The

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money is vale and we're committed to do the right things as we accepted

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the initial response was not good enough. Your Government has put in a

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task force to take over housing, community relations, regeneration

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and various other things, all of which was an implicit criticism of

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how the council has handled Grenfell Tower. But it hasn't had the guts

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just to put in commissioners and take over from the council. We have

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recognised the initial response was not good enough but we need to

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correct the problems, recognising it is not likely any council could've

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coped with a disaster on this scale, which is why we made the

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announcements we did about civil disaster response in the Queen's

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Speech but we also do need to try and preserve democracy. I think it

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is right we should continue to have a council but given right help...

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Without much power where it matters. It is right they should be helped to

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cope with an extraordinary, devastating disaster of a category

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we never would have expected. Would you put in commissioners? I think we

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need to now. Politicians should not easily come to these decisions

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overriding local democracy but in these circumstances, the council and

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council leadership has failed and radical action like that is needed

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now. All right. Thank you both.

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Our Guest of the Day, Steve Baker, is now a minister

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at the Brexit department, and as a backbencher

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He's even been described as one of the five people who made

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Let's have a look at him speaking about the EU at an event in 2010.

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I think the European Union needs to be wholly torn down.

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The thing is, of course, that is actually impractical,

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unless the whole people of Europe can be persuaded to rise up and vote

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for politicians who are prepared, in a moderate and consistent

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and principled and gentle way, to say that the European Union

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project has merely succeeded in raising economic nationalism

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It was to defeat economic nationalism.

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It is therefore a failure in its own terms and if we wish

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to devolve power to the lowest possible level, make it accountable

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and move on into a free society, then it's clearly incompatible.

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Steve Baker that was you in 2010 saying you think the EU should be

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wholly torn down. Do you still think that? What I said in that speech, as

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you heard, that it was a matter for the electors of Europe. It is a

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matter for the electors of Europe. A lot of time have passed in seven

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years and many things have happened. One of the things we have seen which

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I'm grateful for is the electors of Europe have rejected the nationalist

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politicians who are Europe sceptics on the contin and the I'm glad

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they've. They've chosen to solve the problems by further incompetent

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gracing, for example by electing President Macron. Our duty now is to

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negotiate in good faith in our mutual interests to help the

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European Union succeed and have a deep and special partnership in our

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interests. Do you still think the EU should be torn down? What I think we

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need is the European Union to succeed in the interests of all of

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its people. What I said in that speech was I wanted free trade,

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peace, dispersed political power and democracy. I don't think those

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watching this programme will think they are controversial demands. But

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thousand do I they can't happen with the EU as it is, you also said it

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was an obstacle to world peace and incompatible with a free society N

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what Wasilewski or is it an obstacle to world peace? The point I was

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making there is when you recognise that economic nationalism causes

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conflict, for me it is a bad idea to raise that nationalism to a

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continental scale of the the point is we are where we are, the European

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Union needs to change, Jean-Claude Juncker has said it is an

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exsitential crisis. He has recently - I think today it was reported - he

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has told the European Parliament it is ridiculous and threatened to

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boycott it. He said that because no-one turned up to hear him speak

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in the European Union Parliament. He was with the Maltese President and

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they are holding the presidency. If you think the EU is an obstacle to

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world peace, were you saying countries like France and Germany

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were object if obstacle to world peace? Well I was saying that they

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have to... You want it to collapse. It is not in the interests of half a

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billion people who live in the European Union. We need to ensure

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that the mistakes which undoubtedly have been made, with, for example,

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the eurozone, have the opportunity to be corrected, so that all of us

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who share common values in Europe are able it go forward in prosperity

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together. You have tallen into line with what Theresa May has said, she

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wants the EU to be strong and successful and David Davis your boss

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is determined to build a strong and special partnership between

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ourselves and our European Allies, you are now of course a minister and

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agree. Yes, I do. Seven years sore a long time in politics. Well, you

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could transform the EU in seven years if you thought it was an

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obstacle to world peace and it is no longer is, it is a miraculous turn

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around. I have a concern that it causes conflict. I want the European

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Union to be more Liberal, have more power dispersed under democratic

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control to reform, in other words, happily people agree with me because

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you will know that this is a white paper in Europe on European reform

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and people will look at to how it should change and return to nation

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states. I'm sure they are listening and people might say that

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embarrassing that those comments might have been, take your point it

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was seven years ago but could it risk the ability to secure good

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Brexit terms when you have made the comments about nation states as part

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of the EU? Not at all. I'm fully committed to the position the

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Government has set out to deliver a successful relationship which we

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believe we can achieve and I'm looking forward to doing it in the

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interests of not only the UK. But Europe. And you must be pleased that

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that Emmanuel Macron think it is can be rejuvenated, and anp opportunity

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to be liberated without Britain, to go ahead without the veto constantly

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by the UK. It is an extremely good point and one of the reasons why we

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needed to come out. We were an impediment to them doing what is

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necessary to rescue the economy of the eurozone. I repeat what I said -

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I want free trade, peace, prosperity, dispersed power. We all

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want those. I'm delightful to discover they are not controversial

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comments. We want it make sure the European Union has the best possible

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chance of succeeding for the people within it. We are where we are and

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that will mean a degree of fiscal centralisation to make it work.

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Dominic Cummings said that he thought that the Brexit vote could

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have been an error? We have not always agreed and I do not agree on

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this occasion. The debate within the Conservative

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Party over austerity and public sector pay continues,

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we might well hear more about it at And now former Prime Minister,

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David Cameron, has weighed in, saying giving up on sound

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finances is "selfish". So who has said what on this tricky

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question for the Government? JoCo has the Wimbledon-themed

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details. I haven't got the racket,

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unfortunately! Yes, the Prime Minister has had

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a tough job umpiring her party But perhaps she served up the idea

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of a change of policy at the Queen's speech,

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when she said the Government would "reflect on the message voters

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sent" at the election. Her Chancellor Philip Hammond agreed

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with her saying we are "not deaf" and he could see that the public

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want an end to the "long Mrs May has then seen

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a prolonged rally between The Foreign Secretary,

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Boris Johnson, "strongly believes" that a public sector pay rise can be

:16:54.:16:59.

done in a "responsible way" and The Environment Secretary,

:17:00.:17:02.

Michael Gove, said the Government has "got to listen" to the pay

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review bodies, and that he did not believe that taxes would have

:17:09.:17:14.

to be increased to pay It's thought that Education

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Secretary, Justine Greening, and Health Secretary,

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Jeremy Hunt, have also appealed for more money

:17:23.:17:24.

for teachers and health workers. But there have been some

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return serves from those Greg Hands, International Trade

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Minister, said, "There's no change We must live within our means

:17:31.:17:34.

and that is the right thing to do." On Tuesday evening the Chancellor

:17:35.:17:39.

said the Government And keen tennis player

:17:40.:17:41.

and former PM, David Cameron, said yesterday that "giving up

:17:42.:17:49.

on sound finances isn't being generous, it's being selfish,

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spending money today That's as clear as mud! So, Steve

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Baker, which of these positions most accurately described the government

:18:10.:18:12.

position on public sector pay? You strongly believe our rights can be

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given in a responsible way, Boris Johnson, that's something you could

:18:18.:18:20.

have to consider, Michael Fallon, too soon to let borrowing up, David

:18:21.:18:26.

Cameron, it would be a mistake to end the pay cap, Ken Clarke, which

:18:27.:18:31.

is it? The correct position is that the pay review bodies will make

:18:32.:18:36.

their report and be considered. Bearing in mind the balance between

:18:37.:18:39.

the desire to give people a fair pay rise and the need to make sure we

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continue to have a sound economy. It's not by accident that we have

:18:43.:18:47.

record employment, the economy is growing and we have been recovering

:18:48.:18:53.

from the economic calamity that happened during the crash. Do you

:18:54.:19:00.

believe that arise could be given in a responsible way, as per Boris

:19:01.:19:06.

Johnson? We could see that people have their quality of life rising

:19:07.:19:09.

without it affecting the economy. The pay review bodies... They

:19:10.:19:17.

operate within the guidelines of the government, so they will be

:19:18.:19:20.

influenced by the framework within which they deliberate. Yes, but we

:19:21.:19:24.

need to give them an opportunity to report and consider it, rather than

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engaging in signalling now. So if the government pay bodies come out

:19:29.:19:33.

and say, we don't think you should take the cap off, the government

:19:34.:19:37.

would go along with it? I don't think I should speculate on what

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they might say and how people might react. It's a camouflage, isn't it?

:19:41.:19:44.

It's not up to the pay bodies in the end, it up to the government. And

:19:45.:19:49.

there are four different opinions at the moment in the government. The

:19:50.:19:53.

reality is as you well know, we take collective decisions and there will

:19:54.:19:56.

be a discussion within cabinet, some of which has been in topic, and I

:19:57.:20:04.

think it should return to private collective Cabinet decision-making.

:20:05.:20:07.

I want the Cabinet to come to a decision which is responsible and

:20:08.:20:10.

which balances the need for pay rises with the overall need to

:20:11.:20:14.

ensure our economy keeps performing and keeps people in work. So how

:20:15.:20:19.

could you give recent pay rise in the public sector, above the cap,

:20:20.:20:26.

without adding to the deficit? We need economic growth, that's why...

:20:27.:20:32.

It slowing down. So that's why we need to make sure we give businesses

:20:33.:20:35.

the confidence to understand that we are certain where we're going with

:20:36.:20:39.

our Brexit negotiations... The election was a great help with that.

:20:40.:20:44.

That result was disappointing for all of us but we need to continue

:20:45.:20:49.

down the path to deliver the deep and special partnership which will

:20:50.:20:52.

lead to economic growth for us and the economic union and give us the

:20:53.:20:56.

opportunity to pivot outwards to the rest of the world where 90% of the

:20:57.:21:01.

growth will come from by 2020. I think it's important we have a

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settled position and trajectory. I'm trying to find out what that

:21:06.:21:12.

position might be. Finally, before I come to Jonathan Ashworth, it's not

:21:13.:21:16.

really your decision now, it's a sign of the position the government

:21:17.:21:19.

is in. There are 40 Tory backbenchers who think that in some

:21:20.:21:23.

way, the cap has had its day. And given that you haven't got a

:21:24.:21:28.

majority, the cap has had its day, that's the reality, isn't it?

:21:29.:21:30.

Conservatives are defined by our commitment to a sound economy in the

:21:31.:21:34.

public interest. That's one of the central tenets of being a

:21:35.:21:38.

Conservative. I think conservative MPs will listen to the argument as

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they are advanced and prioritise a successful economy in the long term

:21:43.:21:46.

because there is no kindness in adopting policies which wrecked

:21:47.:21:51.

people's prospect of employment. Your manifesto talked about 4

:21:52.:21:56.

billion for public sector workers, but that's nowhere near enough. If

:21:57.:22:01.

public sector pay merely kept pace with private sector pay in the next

:22:02.:22:05.

two or three years, and private sector pay is not exactly booming,

:22:06.:22:09.

if it merely kept pace with that, you would need a lot more than 4

:22:10.:22:13.

billion according to the ISS. Where would the money come from? --

:22:14.:22:20.

according to the eye S S. As I understand from the IFS, the way

:22:21.:22:26.

they did their calculation is different, they are not taking into

:22:27.:22:29.

account the national insurance contributions. If you can deal with

:22:30.:22:33.

this public sector pay issue, and that knocks into the wider workforce

:22:34.:22:38.

issues in the NHS, you should be able to bring the agency bill down.

:22:39.:22:45.

I heard you at the weekend making this point, the government has saved

:22:46.:22:49.

600 million on agency fees, it's put a cap on it, that is factored in. We

:22:50.:22:55.

spent 3.7 billion on agency fees, that's not going to change overnight

:22:56.:22:59.

even with a pay rise, given the nursing shortage. You will continue

:23:00.:23:04.

to need to pay to .5 billion in agency fees for the foreseeable

:23:05.:23:08.

future. You need to find 9 billion by 20 one, 20 two. That's for the

:23:09.:23:14.

kind of pay rise in the public sector you are talking about. Where

:23:15.:23:19.

does it come from? Al calculation is art different -- our calculation is

:23:20.:23:23.

different from the IFS. We are saying that the government does not

:23:24.:23:30.

need to go forward with the corporation tax changes. That is 4

:23:31.:23:35.

billion, you need 9 billion. We can test the figure on that. We seek the

:23:36.:23:39.

government can find it by not going ahead with tax changes. What they

:23:40.:23:44.

mustn't do, which is what I suspect might happen, is given the chaos

:23:45.:23:47.

we've got in government, I worry if the government will get rid of the

:23:48.:23:51.

cap but then say to the NHS, you have to find this extra money from

:23:52.:23:55.

the existing budget and that will put huge budget pressure on the

:23:56.:24:01.

wider NHS. What is more important, cabin corporation tax -- cutting

:24:02.:24:07.

corporation tax or giving a pay rise the public sector workers? Both,

:24:08.:24:11.

because cutting corporation tax will increase revenues. But that could be

:24:12.:24:15.

because we are in the seventh year of a recovery and companies have

:24:16.:24:18.

been making more profit. We don't know that it is directly result of

:24:19.:24:23.

cutting corporation tax, you could have got more revenue in if you had

:24:24.:24:29.

not cut it to 19%. Just don't know. It's certainly a matter of dispute

:24:30.:24:33.

amongst economists but the fact is that we have cut corporation tax and

:24:34.:24:36.

revenues have gone up and that is the sort of effect we would go to

:24:37.:24:41.

expect. My point is, at this stage in the business cycle, it could have

:24:42.:24:44.

been at anyway. It's a matter for debate amongst economists. You

:24:45.:24:49.

cannot be sure if you cut it by more, it will continue to generate

:24:50.:24:53.

revenue. We can be sure that if we raise corporation tax, the effect

:24:54.:24:57.

will be felt by Italy's firms, consumers and it will harm

:24:58.:25:01.

economies. We need a shrug it will be felt by employees of firms. There

:25:02.:25:09.

is a lot to pick up there but we need to move on.

:25:10.:25:11.

Jeremy Hunt wasn't having his best day at the office yesterday.

:25:12.:25:13.

First the Health Secretary appeared close to the bottom

:25:14.:25:16.

of the Conservative Home league table showing the popularity

:25:17.:25:18.

of cabinet ministers among party members,

:25:19.:25:21.

although he was still better liked than the Chancellor

:25:22.:25:26.

He then became the latest victim of the snappers of Downing Street,

:25:27.:25:30.

when he was photographed holding a note

:25:31.:25:32.

which read read "hard Brexit means people fleeing the UK".

:25:33.:25:34.

He later said it referred to a potential criticism

:25:35.:25:38.

that he was expecting from opposition MPs in the Commons.

:25:39.:25:41.

But we thought there might be more to it than that,

:25:42.:25:44.

and when we asked the Daily Politics boffins to have a closer look,

:25:45.:25:47.

Yes, it was a plea from Mr Hunt for what else

:25:48.:25:53.

Well, I'm sorry Jeremy, it probably would put you up

:25:54.:26:04.

there in the popularity stakes with David Davis

:26:05.:26:08.

or Ruth Davidson, but the rules for cabinet ministers are the same

:26:09.:26:12.

You'll need to enter our guess the year competition,

:26:13.:26:19.

MUSIC: Baker Street by Gerry Rafferty.

:26:20.:26:31.

The man stabbed him in the thigh with an umbrella and ran away.

:26:32.:26:43.

As far as I remember, it went like this.

:26:44.:26:46.

# I lost my heart to a starship Trooper

:26:47.:26:55.

The official advice to Britain's housewives was don't panic.

:26:56.:27:08.

# Don't you know I'll be your substitute #

:27:09.:27:12.

# Mr Blue Sky, please tell us why you had to hide away for so long #

:27:13.:27:18.

What do you think about the broadcasting of Parliament?

:27:19.:27:21.

I think it'll give us a chance to see our

:27:22.:27:24.

own members actually speaking up for us.

:27:25.:27:27.

To be in with a chance of winning a Daily Politics mug,

:27:28.:27:49.

send your answer to our special quiz email address,

:27:50.:27:51.

Entries must arrive by 12.30 today, and you can see the full terms

:27:52.:27:57.

and conditions for Guess The Year on our website.

:27:58.:28:09.

There's going to be a statement on public sector pay coming up after

:28:10.:28:18.

Prime Minister's Questions, from Liz Truss, the Chief Secretary of the

:28:19.:28:21.

Treasury. She will make the statement after PMQs. We do not know

:28:22.:28:26.

how long it will last but hopefully we will get it in before supper to

:28:27.:28:32.

night. We like to look at Big Ben, it is glorious summer stay in London

:28:33.:28:38.

town. Primus 's questions in a few -- prime ministers questions in a

:28:39.:28:44.

few minutes. We're expecting a kind of statement by the Prime Minister

:28:45.:28:52.

on rental tower? -- Grenfell Tower? Yes, she has given a lot of updates

:28:53.:28:57.

at the start of prime ministers questions and I imagine she will do

:28:58.:29:02.

that. We have seen this morning how Kensington Council has had a task

:29:03.:29:05.

force sent in on top of other individuals to help them deal with

:29:06.:29:09.

the aftermath of the tragedy, not exactly taking over the council but

:29:10.:29:13.

to help them come to use that phrase, with their housing problems,

:29:14.:29:16.

dealing with those displaced by the fire and the things that surround

:29:17.:29:19.

that. So the government and other local councils have piled in to help

:29:20.:29:24.

out Kensington. I guess people watching will say, why wasn't that

:29:25.:29:30.

done the next day? Why wasn't that done, not for you to answer, but

:29:31.:29:35.

people will think this was such a national tragedy, so visible as

:29:36.:29:38.

well, seeing into the public consciousness, that you would just

:29:39.:29:42.

drop everything and get the resources in to help. A lot of those

:29:43.:29:46.

people are on the ground in Kensington, trying to get together

:29:47.:29:50.

some sort of crisis response after the fire with no help from the local

:29:51.:29:54.

authority. When I was there briefly, people complained about that and

:29:55.:29:58.

since then we've had the Prime Minister talking about the failures

:29:59.:30:01.

on the part of the state, Sajid Javid, the communities minister,

:30:02.:30:05.

saying they had been let down by public policy over decades. There is

:30:06.:30:10.

no shortage of contrition. What do we expect Mr Corbyn to go on? He has

:30:11.:30:17.

rich pickings. He does, but we will see to the target, one of them is

:30:18.:30:23.

Grenfell which transformed itself very quickly into a political

:30:24.:30:27.

argument after the tragedy and then into a party political argument, and

:30:28.:30:34.

Jeremy Corbyn's argument was to blame it on austerity and lay the

:30:35.:30:38.

blame on the Conservative administration. We saw Theresa May

:30:39.:30:44.

pushback on that. Public pay, Theresa May's response will be

:30:45.:30:49.

interesting on that, interesting, in quotes, I suggest. I would suggest a

:30:50.:30:55.

reiteration of Philip Hammond 's line. Maybe Philip Hammond without

:30:56.:31:01.

his fireworks. You sending our audience to sleep? Philip Hammond

:31:02.:31:06.

without the fireworks! We have not had the Prime Minister herself say

:31:07.:31:09.

very much about public sector pay, if she has to say something, I'm

:31:10.:31:13.

sure she will come it will underline her weakness. She is being buffeted

:31:14.:31:18.

around by the pressures inside the Tory party in the country as a

:31:19.:31:23.

whole, and from the Labour opposition. This whole situation

:31:24.:31:26.

flows not just from weakness but political impotence in number ten.

:31:27.:31:33.

The leadership in the government has gone missing. We have seen

:31:34.:31:37.

government ministers ploughing their own furrows at will with no

:31:38.:31:42.

semblance with what we used to consider cabinet discipline. That

:31:43.:31:44.

has been interesting. We don't know how it shakes out, they haven't yet

:31:45.:31:49.

pronounced the public sector pay cap dead but it is a dead policy

:31:50.:31:53.

walking. It seems to be perfectly clear from where I'm sitting that it

:31:54.:31:57.

would be politically impossible to carry on with this policy, even

:31:58.:31:59.

though they might need to do that. Last week saw the 80th anniversary

:32:00.:32:21.

of the 999 service. I know members will want it join plea paying

:32:22.:32:26.

tribute to the men and women who work tirelessly saving lives, day-in

:32:27.:32:31.

and day-out. Mr Speaker, this morning I had meetings with

:32:32.:32:34.

ministerial colleagues and others n addition to my duties in this House,

:32:35.:32:38.

I shall have further such meetings later. Later this week I will attend

:32:39.:32:44.

a meeting of the G20 where I'll discuss the global economy,

:32:45.:32:46.

counter-terrorism and sustainable development with my fellow leaders.

:32:47.:32:49.

THE SPEAKER: Hannah Bardell. Thank you. Her face smashed with an iPad.

:32:50.:32:56.

Her body beaten and forced to abort a baby girl. This is only some of

:32:57.:33:01.

the domestic abuse my constituent, Lola has faced by her estranged

:33:02.:33:07.

husband because she has refused the genital mutilation of her daughter.

:33:08.:33:11.

She's ledgicated, has moot and had a good job with RBS until the Home

:33:12.:33:15.

Office revoked her right to work. I have been writing to the Home Office

:33:16.:33:23.

since March and got nowhere. So will the Prime Minister now intervene to

:33:24.:33:28.

stop this family being deported and the three-year-old girl being

:33:29.:33:30.

subject to female genital mutilation?

:33:31.:33:32.

I say to the honourable lady that the Home Secretary has obviously

:33:33.:33:37.

heard the case she set out here today. The issue of female genital

:33:38.:33:42.

mutilation is one on which I think we are all agreed across this whole

:33:43.:33:47.

House. It is an abhorrent activity T should not be taking place. Great

:33:48.:33:51.

efforts have been made over recent years, in terms of strengthening the

:33:52.:33:56.

law on it but also on getting information out about this issue and

:33:57.:34:02.

also trying to support people in these communities where there is a

:34:03.:34:06.

practice of FGM. The message has to go out from this House today - we

:34:07.:34:13.

will not accept FGM in this country. THE SPEAKER: James Morris. Thank

:34:14.:34:17.

you, Mr Speaker. Until the last few days, Iraqi security forces assisted

:34:18.:34:21.

by coalition air strikes have made significant progress in eradicating

:34:22.:34:24.

Isil fighters from Mosul. This is a significant step forward in the

:34:25.:34:27.

military conflict against Isil in Iraq. But would the Prime Minister

:34:28.:34:31.

agree with me that the UK and the United States and abroad

:34:32.:34:35.

international alliance needs to work with the Iraqi Government to ensure

:34:36.:34:38.

reconstruction in places like Mosul, as well as working with the Iraqi

:34:39.:34:43.

Government to make sure that it is sufficiently strong to withstand the

:34:44.:34:50.

poisonous ideology of the Isil as we seek to defeat it. My honourable

:34:51.:34:56.

friend is right. In order to keep the streets of Britain safe we must

:34:57.:35:03.

continue to I a tack Isil in Iraq and Syria. The RAF has conducted

:35:04.:35:06.

over 1,400 strikes. There are over 500 British soldiers on the ground,

:35:07.:35:12.

providing further assistance but my honourable friend makes the

:35:13.:35:16.

important point that it is not just about the military action that takes

:35:17.:35:22.

place, it is about how we ensure there is sustainable reconstruction

:35:23.:35:24.

and rebuilding afterwards. Our troops have helped train 55,000

:35:25.:35:27.

Iraqi security force personnel. We are providing over 169.5 million

:35:28.:35:31.

pounds in humanitarian aid and a further ?30 million to help Iraq

:35:32.:35:35.

stabilise these liberated areas. And together we must also work, not just

:35:36.:35:39.

in Iraq but internationally, to ensure that the hateful ideology of

:35:40.:35:44.

extremism is not able to poison the minds of people. THE SPEAKER: Jeremy

:35:45.:35:52.

Corbyn? Thank you, Mr Speaker. Can I start by wishing everyone a happy

:35:53.:35:56.

Pride month and especially those taking part in the Pride maefrp this

:35:57.:36:02.

Saturday. We should be aware - the survey taken by Pride in London

:36:03.:36:06.

found half of LBGT people in London had experienced hate crime in the

:36:07.:36:11.

past 12 months. I join the Prime Minister in wishing the NHS a very

:36:12.:36:17.

happy birthday. I was hoping she was going to say a bit more about NHS

:36:18.:36:21.

staff and their pay during birthday greetings, because after a week of

:36:22.:36:26.

flip flopping and floundering, we thought we got some clarity from

:36:27.:36:30.

Downing Street at last. On Monday the announcement was that the public

:36:31.:36:35.

sector pay cap at 1% remains and a rare moment of agreement between

:36:36.:36:38.

number 10 and 11 was seen but yesterday we had news that

:36:39.:36:42.

firefighters are going to be offered 2% this year and 3% next year. So,

:36:43.:36:47.

account Prime Minister confirm whether the public sector pay cap

:36:48.:36:50.

will remain for all other public servants until 2020? May I join The

:36:51.:36:55.

Right Honourable gentlemen in wishing everybody who is going to

:36:56.:36:59.

take part in Pride London on Saturday an excellent day. I'm sure

:37:00.:37:06.

it will be a very good occasion as it always has been. Can I also say

:37:07.:37:12.

that I and all members of this House value the work that is done,

:37:13.:37:17.

incredibly important work done by our public sector

:37:18.:37:26.

JEERS And I understand the concerns about

:37:27.:37:33.

the pay. But for the information of the House perhaps I can set out the

:37:34.:37:40.

current position. We have had three pay review bodies in the public

:37:41.:37:44.

sector reporting in March. That covered doctors and dentists, NHS

:37:45.:37:46.

staff, including nurses and the Armed Forces and the Government

:37:47.:37:49.

accepted the recommendations in all three of those cases. The

:37:50.:37:53.

firefighters award is not a matter that is determined by Government, it

:37:54.:37:57.

is determined by the employers and it is not subject to a pay review

:37:58.:38:03.

body. There are outstanding pay review body reports. Those cover

:38:04.:38:06.

teachers, prison officers, police officers and senior salaries and the

:38:07.:38:10.

Government will consider those reports very carefully and we'll

:38:11.:38:15.

respond to them. But while we do that, we will always recognise the

:38:16.:38:21.

need to ensure that we take those decisions, against the need to live

:38:22.:38:25.

within our means. The right honourable gentleman and I both

:38:26.:38:28.

value public sector workers and our public services. The difference is,

:38:29.:38:38.

I know we have to pay for them. Mr Speaker, the public sector pay cap

:38:39.:38:43.

causes real shortages in nursing and teaching and many other professions,

:38:44.:38:47.

as well as real hardship. I had a letter last week from a teacher

:38:48.:38:52.

called David. It's all right, he is a teacher, he is doing a good job,

:38:53.:38:59.

all right. Inhe says, and I quote, "I've been teaching for ten years. I

:39:00.:39:05.

have seen my workload increase. I have seen more people leave the

:39:06.:39:10.

profession than start and no form of pay increase in seven years. The

:39:11.:39:14.

only thing holding the education system together is the dedication 20

:39:15.:39:18.

struggle on for their students and staff." And he says, "This

:39:19.:39:22.

dedication is starting to run out." So what we are doing, by this pay

:39:23.:39:30.

cap, I say to the Prime Minister, is recklessly exploiting the goodwill

:39:31.:39:32.

of public servants, like David. They need a pay rise. The Leader of the

:39:33.:39:41.

Opposition refers to the numbers of nurses and teachers we have working

:39:42.:39:45.

in the public sector. Of course we now have more nurses in our

:39:46.:39:49.

hospitals than we had in 2010. More teachers in our schools. But let me

:39:50.:39:52.

remind the right honourable gentleman of why it has been

:39:53.:39:56.

necessary for us to exercise restraint in public spending,

:39:57.:40:01.

including capping public sector pay? It's because we inherited the

:40:02.:40:10.

biggest deficit in our history... Shouts and jeers SHOUTS

:40:11.:40:23.

THE SPEAKER: Order. I noticed earlier Mr Mcmood you seem to be in

:40:24.:40:31.

a hyper condition today. I recommend you take a soothing medicamen, you

:40:32.:40:34.

will probably feel better. We've acted to bring the deficit down. It

:40:35.:40:39.

is now down by three-quarters. At the same time, we have seen the

:40:40.:40:44.

economy grow and we've seen recordlevels of people in

:40:45.:40:48.

employment. Our policy on public sector pay has always recognised

:40:49.:40:53.

that we need to balance the need to be fair to public sector workers, to

:40:54.:40:59.

protect... To protect jobs in the public sector and to be fair to

:41:00.:41:07.

those who pay for it. That is the balance we need to strike and we

:41:08.:41:11.

continue to assess that balance. We've had seven years of tax cuts

:41:12.:41:16.

for the richest and tax breaks for the biggest corporations. And last

:41:17.:41:25.

year, Mr Speaker, there was a net loss of 1,700 nurses and midwives to

:41:26.:41:32.

the NHS, and in the first two months of this year alone, 3,264 have left

:41:33.:41:38.

the profession altogether. Not a great birthday present for the NHS,

:41:39.:41:43.

is it? Last week the Chancellor said "We all value our public services

:41:44.:41:48.

and the people who provide them to us." And went on to laud his own

:41:49.:41:55.

economic record by saying #wed a fundamentally robust economy. Well,

:41:56.:41:58.

the Prime Minister found ?1 billion to keep her own job, why can't she

:41:59.:42:06.

find the same amount of money to keep nurses and teachers in their

:42:07.:42:11.

jobs, who afterall, serve all of us? The right honourable gentleman talks

:42:12.:42:15.

about the number of nurses. In fact I think some of those figures he was

:42:16.:42:21.

talking about was the number of nurses who are registered in the

:42:22.:42:26.

United Kingdom. There are about 600,000 nurses registered in the UK.

:42:27.:42:32.

About half of them, 300,000 work in the NHS in England. And contrary to

:42:33.:42:38.

what he says, we have 13,000 more nurses working in the NHS today than

:42:39.:42:44.

compared to 20 o 10. SHOUTS But ginned stand that it has been

:42:45.:42:48.

hard for people who have been working hard and making sacrifices,

:42:49.:42:53.

over the years, as we have been dealing with Labour's mismanagement

:42:54.:43:03.

of the economy. But let me just... Let me remind the right honourable

:43:04.:43:07.

gentleman of what happens when you don't deal with the deficit? It's

:43:08.:43:13.

not a theoretical issue, let's look at those countries that fail to deal

:43:14.:43:18.

with it? In Greece, where they haven't dealt with the deficit...

:43:19.:43:28.

Yes... SHOUTS AND JEERS What did we see?

:43:29.:43:34.

Spending on the health service cut by 36%. Thatp doesn't help nurses or

:43:35.:43:41.

patients. I hope the Prime Minister's proud of her record of

:43:42.:43:46.

controlling public sector pay to the extent that hard-working nurses have

:43:47.:43:51.

to access food banks in order to survive. And the frozen wages of

:43:52.:44:01.

teaching assistants, par meddies and council workers. But, Mr Speaker, it

:44:02.:44:05.

not -- paramedics. But across the economy wages are

:44:06.:44:10.

rising by 2.1% while inflation is nearly 3%. 6 million workers already

:44:11.:44:17.

earn less than the living wage. What does the Prime Minister think that

:44:18.:44:22.

tells us about seven years of a Conservative Government, and what

:44:23.:44:25.

it's done to the living standards of those people on whom we all rely to

:44:26.:44:30.

get our public services, our health services, delivered to us? I'll tell

:44:31.:44:35.

the right honourable gentleman what has happened over the last seven

:44:36.:44:38.

years, we see record numbers of people in employment. Nearly 3

:44:39.:44:48.

million more people in work. We have seen the introduction of the

:44:49.:44:54.

national living wage - never done by Labour. Done by a Conservative

:44:55.:45:02.

Government. And we've seen 4 million people taken out of paying income

:45:03.:45:08.

tax altogether. And a cut in income tax and a change in the personal

:45:09.:45:14.

allowance which is the equivalent of ?1,000 to basic rate tax payers,

:45:15.:45:18.

including nurses. That's the record of good management of the economy.

:45:19.:45:20.

You only get it with a Conservative. Mr Speaker. Mr Speaker, the Prime

:45:21.:45:36.

Minister simply doesn't get it. SHOUTS AND JEERING.

:45:37.:45:42.

There is, Mr Speaker,... We've got plenty of time, I'm quite happy to

:45:43.:45:55.

go for a lot of time. People should try to calm themselves and give a

:45:56.:45:59.

moments thought as to whether they'd like to be viewed by their

:46:00.:46:03.

constituents shrieking their heads off, it's very down-market. Mr

:46:04.:46:12.

Speaker, there is a low pay at the panic in this country. And it has a

:46:13.:46:17.

terrible -- P epidemic in this country and it has a terrible effect

:46:18.:46:23.

on young people. Those in their 20s will earn less than a generation

:46:24.:46:26.

don't before them. The first generation to be worse off than the

:46:27.:46:31.

last. They are less likely to be able to buy their own home, more

:46:32.:46:35.

likely to be saddled with debt, more likely to be in insecure, low-paid

:46:36.:46:40.

work. Except for more misery, what does the Prime Minister and her

:46:41.:46:43.

government actually offer for the young people of this country?

:46:44.:46:52.

THE SPEAKER: Prime Minister. Yes, to echo those colleagues, what

:46:53.:46:59.

we offer young people is more jobs, more homes, and opportunity to own

:47:00.:47:06.

their own home. But let me just, let me just tell the Right Honourable

:47:07.:47:11.

gentleman what isn't fair. It isn't fair to refuse to take tough to

:47:12.:47:15.

sessions and to load debts on our children and grandchildren in the

:47:16.:47:23.

future. It isn't, it isn't fair to bankrupt our economy because that

:47:24.:47:26.

leads to people losing their jobs and losing their homes. And it isn't

:47:27.:47:31.

fair to go out and tell people that they can have all the public

:47:32.:47:35.

spending they want without paying for it. Labour's away leads to fewer

:47:36.:47:45.

jobs, higher prices, more taxes and Labour's way means everyone pays the

:47:46.:47:52.

price of labour. Mr Speaker, when Tories talk of tough choices, we

:47:53.:47:57.

know who suffers, it's the poorest and most vulnerable within our

:47:58.:48:05.

society. Young people, Mr Speaker, in Clwyd on zero hours contracts,

:48:06.:48:10.

are more likely to have -- employed on zero hours contracts, are more

:48:11.:48:13.

likely to have worse physical and mental health. University students

:48:14.:48:17.

who have graduated with ?50,000 worth of debt which will stay with

:48:18.:48:24.

them until they retire. Mr Speaker, let me spell it out to the Prime

:48:25.:48:28.

Minister. This is the only country in which wages have not recovered

:48:29.:48:34.

since the global financial crash. More people are using food banks. 4

:48:35.:48:38.

million children living in poverty. Record in work. Poverty. Young

:48:39.:48:47.

people who see no prospect of owning their own home and 6 million earning

:48:48.:48:51.

less than the living way. The low Payet Adamic is a threat to our

:48:52.:48:59.

economic stability. -- the low Payet Adamic. So can she take some tough

:49:00.:49:03.

choices and instead of offering platitudes, offer some real help for

:49:04.:49:09.

those in work, young people who deserve better and deserve to be

:49:10.:49:12.

given more optimism rather than greater inequality? We actually now

:49:13.:49:20.

see the proportion of people in absolute poverty is at record lows.

:49:21.:49:25.

He asks for help for those who low-paid. I'll tell him the help

:49:26.:49:31.

that we have given, we introduced the mandatory national living wage,

:49:32.:49:38.

the lowest earners fastest pay rise in 20 years. We have cut taxes for

:49:39.:49:48.

those on the basic rate. We are doing what is important for this

:49:49.:49:51.

country which is insuring there are jobs and an economy which provides

:49:52.:49:55.

jobs, which is the best route out of poverty, being in work. And I know,

:49:56.:50:02.

I know that the right honourable gentleman has taken to calling

:50:03.:50:08.

himself a government in waiting. Well, we all know what that means.

:50:09.:50:15.

Waiting to put up taxes, waiting to destroy jobs, waiting to bankrupt

:50:16.:50:18.

our country, we will never let it happen.

:50:19.:50:21.

CHEERING I understand the House is excited

:50:22.:50:36.

about hearing the right honourable member, Nicky Morgan.

:50:37.:50:40.

I know that the Prime Minister and her ministers and many other members

:50:41.:50:44.

of the House are committed to better mental health care for everyone. I'm

:50:45.:50:49.

a founder of the Loughborough well-being project and I recently

:50:50.:50:53.

visited an eating disorder service in Leicester. As a result of the

:50:54.:51:03.

Rodman's careful financial management, 1.4 billion more is

:51:04.:51:08.

going into mental health services. How can she insure that this goes

:51:09.:51:13.

into the service is consistently? May I commend her on her work in

:51:14.:51:16.

this project and I'm happy to join her in paying tribute to the work of

:51:17.:51:21.

the eating disorder service in Leicester. As she says, they do

:51:22.:51:25.

incredibly important work and we must do more to transform the mental

:51:26.:51:29.

health services that we provide for young people, but also mental health

:51:30.:51:33.

generally. That's why, as she says, we are putting more money into

:51:34.:51:36.

mental health and it will reach a record 11.6 billion, it reached that

:51:37.:51:44.

last year. That funding, we need to make sure it gets through to the

:51:45.:51:48.

front line, we are working to ensure that people and staff in schools are

:51:49.:51:52.

trained to better identify and deal with mental health problems when

:51:53.:51:55.

they are present with children. I saw that when I visited a school in

:51:56.:52:00.

Bristol last week, excellent work being done, improving the quality of

:52:01.:52:03.

services for young people with mental health. In Blackford. As we

:52:04.:52:11.

meet here today, the funeral is taking place in Dundee for the

:52:12.:52:14.

former leader of the Scottish National Party and member of

:52:15.:52:19.

Parliament for Dundee East from 1974 to 1987, I'm sure the House would

:52:20.:52:22.

like to join with me in commemorating the life and

:52:23.:52:24.

contribution to politics of the late, dearly missed friend and

:52:25.:52:31.

colleague, Gordon Wilson. Mr Speaker, the UK Government has not

:52:32.:52:35.

announced any measures to address rising inflation and slamming wage

:52:36.:52:39.

growth which the eye S S has described as dreadful. -- which the

:52:40.:52:49.

IFS has destroyed as dreadful. As workers endure the worst pay for 70

:52:50.:52:52.

years, does the Prime Minister think she is looking out for the just

:52:53.:52:57.

about managing? Can I first of all say to the honourable gentleman as I

:52:58.:53:00.

did last week, I am sure all members of the House would like to offer our

:53:01.:53:04.

condolences to the friends, families and colleagues of the late Gordon

:53:05.:53:08.

Wilson but also to recognise the role he played in politics in the UK

:53:09.:53:13.

including in this house. And I say to the honourable gentleman, as I

:53:14.:53:17.

have said to the Leader of the Opposition, what is important is

:53:18.:53:21.

that we ensure that we have an economy which is increasing the

:53:22.:53:25.

number of jobs because the best route out of poverty is for people

:53:26.:53:29.

to be in work. That is what we are doing. We've seen nearly 3 million

:53:30.:53:34.

more jobs being created over recent years. That's important for people.

:53:35.:53:39.

We also help people, for example, by cutting taxes, it's what we've done

:53:40.:53:43.

for people who are you lower paid, introducing the national living

:53:44.:53:50.

wage, that is what people need. It is the forecast in the rise in work

:53:51.:53:57.

poverty which should concern us, particularly the increase of young

:53:58.:54:01.

people in poverty. Since the general election in 2010, the FTSE 100 has

:54:02.:54:07.

risen by 39.6%. Monetary policy, not least quantitative easing, has

:54:08.:54:12.

helped drive up financial assets while workers have paid the price

:54:13.:54:18.

for austerity. Workers will earn no more in 2021 than they did in 2008.

:54:19.:54:23.

Will the Prime Minister give workers a pay rise? I would have thought

:54:24.:54:27.

that particularly with his background, he would have recognised

:54:28.:54:31.

the role that the monetary policy including quantitative easing has

:54:32.:54:36.

done in ensuring that we at able to see those jobs in the enquiry --

:54:37.:54:44.

economy which are so important. Can my right honourable friend tell me

:54:45.:54:47.

what steps the government is taking to drive value for money and

:54:48.:54:52.

efficiency in the aid budget to ensure taxpayer money is used to

:54:53.:54:55.

promote global peace and security in the national interest? Can I say to

:54:56.:55:00.

my honourable friend that I am proud that the government is committed to

:55:01.:55:03.

honouring our international commitment on aid, that is important

:55:04.:55:06.

for this country. This money is saving lives, building a more stable

:55:07.:55:11.

and prosperous world, that's firmly in our UK national interest but of

:55:12.:55:14.

course, but he's absolutely right, we need to make sure the money we

:55:15.:55:17.

are spending is being spent utterly and efficiently. The international

:55:18.:55:23.

developer and secretary, I can assure him, is driving value for

:55:24.:55:27.

money and efficiency in the aid budget, focusing on greater

:55:28.:55:30.

transparency, boosting payment by results and driving value for money

:55:31.:55:36.

as well. We set up in 2011 and independent aid watchdog together

:55:37.:55:42.

with stronger controls in DfiD. It's important we are committed to this

:55:43.:55:45.

money but it is also important that it is spelt well. My young

:55:46.:55:50.

constituent paid ?300 house reservation fee to an estate agent

:55:51.:55:59.

their landlord clients -- grow which they will not refund after they

:56:00.:56:03.

refused to honour the contract after the landlord pulled out. When will

:56:04.:56:10.

the Prime Minister act and put an end to these rip-off fees and stop

:56:11.:56:16.

these agents capitalising on young people and others? We have made

:56:17.:56:23.

reference in the Queen's speech to what we're doing in this area, we

:56:24.:56:27.

recognise the issues. He says when, but he will recognise in the House

:56:28.:56:30.

that we need to ensure that anything we bring forward in legislative

:56:31.:56:34.

terms get right, so it's going to work. We recognise the problem and

:56:35.:56:37.

we are going to do something about it. In 2008, I brought forward an

:56:38.:56:43.

amendment to the animal welfare act that would have extended the

:56:44.:56:48.

sentences for cruelty to animals from weeks to years. Will my right

:56:49.:56:51.

honourable friend look and see what can be done to ensure that people

:56:52.:56:55.

who are deliberately and wilfully cruel to animals are punished far

:56:56.:57:00.

more severely? I'm grateful to my honourable friend for raising this

:57:01.:57:07.

issue and we all share a high regard for animal welfare, the importance

:57:08.:57:09.

of having strict laws in place to ensure that we deal with people

:57:10.:57:12.

properly who are not looking after animals. And anyone who is cruel to

:57:13.:57:17.

an animal doesn't provide for welfare needs may be and from --

:57:18.:57:25.

banned from owning animals, given a fine sent to prison. We are in

:57:26.:57:29.

discussion with the Ministry of Justice regularly in remission to

:57:30.:57:35.

the sentencing policy for animal welfare. With this awful service

:57:36.:57:40.

reportedly having to explain in crayon to the -- with the civil

:57:41.:57:46.

service reportedly having to explain in crayon to the Cabinet that there

:57:47.:57:53.

is now know have your cake and eat it option for Brexit, will she

:57:54.:57:57.

admits she is prioritising her own red lines? He will have heard the

:57:58.:58:02.

answer before. We want to negotiate the best possible answer for the

:58:03.:58:08.

United Kingdom which ensures we have a comprehensive free trade

:58:09.:58:11.

agreement, we can trade with our partners, we have a deep and special

:58:12.:58:14.

partnership with the European Union, that we ensure that we are growing

:58:15.:58:19.

our economy but it's not just about our relationship with the European

:58:20.:58:22.

Union, it's about trade deals that we will do with countries around the

:58:23.:58:26.

rest of the world. And it's about ensuring sound management

:58:27.:58:33.

conservative government. Commissioners have highlighted to me

:58:34.:58:37.

the valuable contribution that retired police Sergeant and now

:58:38.:58:42.

special constable Ross Hall has made to maritime policing. Does my right

:58:43.:58:45.

honourable friend believe that joined up working with other

:58:46.:58:49.

agencies is essential and can make a positive contribution to beating

:58:50.:58:54.

crime in our small harbours? And helps protect our borders? Can I

:58:55.:59:00.

join my honourable friend in recognising the contribution that

:59:01.:59:04.

special contribution Ross Hall has made in her constituency, and she

:59:05.:59:10.

makes an important point. When I was Home Secretary, I brought various

:59:11.:59:13.

agencies together to look at just this issue of how we deal with

:59:14.:59:18.

protecting our borders. That joined up working can make a real and

:59:19.:59:23.

positive contribution. As she will know, of course, what matters is not

:59:24.:59:26.

just how we do that but ensuring that we're having an impact but as

:59:27.:59:31.

she will know, crime has fallen by a third since 20 ten to eight record

:59:32.:59:39.

low. -- 2010 to a record low. Thank you for advising me on my blood

:59:40.:59:44.

pressure, when I go to my consultant on Monday, he will give me the same

:59:45.:59:50.

advice. My blood pressure rises because when I go and see those

:59:51.:59:54.

nurses in those hospitals, overstretched, overworked and

:59:55.:59:57.

underpaid and having to use food banks, she pays lip service and does

:59:58.:00:04.

not look at the pace sector gap and does not reduce it. Listen to the

:00:05.:00:07.

plea of those nurses and do something about the pace sector cap.

:00:08.:00:14.

I have set out the position to the Leader of the sop significance when

:00:15.:00:25.

he spoke earlier. -- Leader of the Opposition. And for nurses there is

:00:26.:00:30.

the overall public sector pay increase but also many nurses

:00:31.:00:33.

receive increments or progression pay. And for a typical band 5 nurse,

:00:34.:00:37.

they'll be receiving 3.8% over and above the 1%. It is a strong economy

:00:38.:00:47.

that power this is Government's investment in the NHS and it is a

:00:48.:00:53.

strong economy that is allowing this Government to create 1,500 new

:00:54.:00:57.

medical school places and new medical schools. Does the Prime

:00:58.:01:04.

Minister agree with me that Lincolnshire makes a new case for a

:01:05.:01:10.

new medical school in this great county? My honourable friend makes

:01:11.:01:18.

an important point. We can only pay for public services with a strong

:01:19.:01:25.

economy. And as he said we are going to train 1,500 more doctors every

:01:26.:01:30.

year to ensure the NHS has enough doctors to continue providing a

:01:31.:01:33.

safe, compassionate care we all want to see. We are looking at the

:01:34.:01:37.

question of how to allocate the places and will publish their

:01:38.:01:39.

consultation response. They are also looking at the possibility of new

:01:40.:01:42.

and aspiring medical schools bidding for these places and I'm sure that

:01:43.:01:48.

as my honourable friend has always been a champion for his constituents

:01:49.:01:52.

and constituency, he will continue to make an excellent case for Lynne

:01:53.:01:56.

coreshire. On Saturday the Shadow Chancellor and I joined staff from

:01:57.:01:59.

picture house cinemas outside the Ritzy in Brixton who are striking

:02:00.:02:02.

because their employer reus foos to pay the London living wage and has

:02:03.:02:07.

outrageously stacked their trade union representatives. Will the

:02:08.:02:11.

Prime Minister join me on calling of Picture House cinema who made a

:02:12.:02:15.

profit last year of ?18 million to pay their staff the London living

:02:16.:02:21.

wage and to rein-Tait their local res madly -- reinstate. It is about

:02:22.:02:26.

a relationship between employers and their employees. What I say to her

:02:27.:02:30.

overall is the importance of Government taking the right

:02:31.:02:34.

decisions to ensure we can - excuse me - taking right decisions to

:02:35.:02:44.

ensure that growing the economy and providing those jobs for people in

:02:45.:02:50.

the first place. Tait THE SPEAKER: Andrew Bowie. Thank you Mr Speaker,

:02:51.:02:55.

I would to thank the Prime Minister for taking time during the general

:02:56.:03:01.

election to come up to campaign in my constituency where I think we did

:03:02.:03:08.

rather well. I would like to ask if she agrees with me that it is

:03:09.:03:13.

utterly shameful that the Scottish Government have for the second year

:03:14.:03:17.

in a reh to go pleading to the European Commission for an extension

:03:18.:03:21.

to the farm payment deadline, and is this not proof, if further proof

:03:22.:03:27.

were needed that the SNP are failing rural Scotland? THE SPEAKER: Order.

:03:28.:03:29.

We're fascinated to hear the answer, I should just say although I'm

:03:30.:03:33.

interested to hear the answer and we will, the Prime Minister is not

:03:34.:03:36.

responsible for the Scottish Government. Prime Minister. Can I

:03:37.:03:42.

first of all welcome my honourable friend to his place in this House

:03:43.:03:49.

and I very much enjoyed my visit to his constituency during the election

:03:50.:03:53.

campaign. But what he says is absolutely right because time and

:03:54.:03:57.

again, in this Chamber, Mr Speaker, we hear the Scottish Nationalists

:03:58.:04:02.

demanding more powers for Scotland. Yet what do we see? They are failing

:04:03.:04:08.

to deliver for the Scottish people on the powers they already have. Yet

:04:09.:04:14.

again Scottish schools are now outperformed in every category by

:04:15.:04:18.

schools in England, Northern Ireland, Estonia and Poland. Powers

:04:19.:04:22.

are kept in Edinburgh rather than being devolved to local people and

:04:23.:04:27.

as my honourable friend says, yet again we see farmers waiting months

:04:28.:04:31.

for their subsidy payments. The simple fact is that the SNP's

:04:32.:04:35.

qualities are not in the best interests of the people of Scotland.

:04:36.:04:39.

THE SPEAKER: Order. I say to the honourable gentleman the member for

:04:40.:04:42.

Glasgow South who persists in gesticulating in an eccentric

:04:43.:04:45.

matter, he seems discome bob lighted from the world he inhabits. It is an

:04:46.:04:52.

unhappy state of affairs. The southern rail dispute is causing

:04:53.:04:58.

real damage to the economy of Eastbourne and South East. My

:04:59.:05:01.

constituents have had a shocking time with the services provide the

:05:02.:05:05.

or not for the last 1 months. This shrimp cannot go on. With the Prime

:05:06.:05:11.

Minister enlighten me, my constituents and the House, why the

:05:12.:05:15.

Department for Transport and the train operator will not meet with

:05:16.:05:21.

the unions at the same time in the same room, together, to negotiate a

:05:22.:05:25.

deal? I recognise the problems that have been experienced by passengers

:05:26.:05:28.

on southern rail, this is a matter that has been raised by a number of

:05:29.:05:35.

my colleagues in the House, including my honourable friend the

:05:36.:05:38.

member for Lewes who raised it last weevenlingt I'm very disappointed

:05:39.:05:41.

that they have called more industrial action. It is completely

:05:42.:05:44.

unnecessary. All it will do is cause more disruption and frustration for

:05:45.:05:49.

passengers. The recent independent report says the main cause of

:05:50.:05:53.

widespread disruption on Southern has been union action. So, I would

:05:54.:05:58.

urge the unions to call off these strikes, work with the operators and

:05:59.:06:01.

deliver the services the passengers need. THE SPEAKER: Alex Burghart.

:06:02.:06:11.

Businesses across my constituency will be cock ahoop to hear that

:06:12.:06:17.

their calls for better broadband are being answer bid the digital

:06:18.:06:20.

infrastructure investment fund. Which is going to unlock about ?1

:06:21.:06:24.

billion for full fibre service. It is going to help them create jobs,

:06:25.:06:27.

particularly in rural areas. Will the Prime Minister agree with me

:06:28.:06:31.

that this is exactly the sort of infrastructure spend we need to get

:06:32.:06:36.

our country Brexit-ready? My honourable friend makes a very

:06:37.:06:41.

important point. And wear already a digital world leader and we're

:06:42.:06:44.

committed to making sure this unremains so. We already see 93% of

:06:45.:06:50.

the UK accessing superfast broadband and we are on track to reach 95% by

:06:51.:06:58.

the end of the year but we do want to see more commercial investment in

:06:59.:07:01.

the gold standard connectivity full fibre provides and this is' why

:07:02.:07:04.

we've launched this digital infrastructure investment fund

:07:05.:07:05.

accompanies aaround the UK will be able to apply for match funding for

:07:06.:07:11.

projects which would see fibre delivered right to the doorstep.

:07:12.:07:14.

Yesterday we also announced 100% business rate relief for businesses

:07:15.:07:18.

rolling out new fibre. This is important. We want to continue to be

:07:19.:07:22.

woorld leader and these are the actions Government are taking in

:07:23.:07:27.

making sure we will be. Police officer numbers in Wales have

:07:28.:07:31.

dropped by 10% since her party came to power. The policing is devolved

:07:32.:07:35.

in Northern Ireland and Scotland and have xrap funding worth ?25 million

:07:36.:07:40.

at their disposal. This would more than replace those lost officers.

:07:41.:07:46.

What justification is there for refusing to want to devolve

:07:47.:07:50.

policing? We have been around this discussion before but can I address

:07:51.:07:55.

the central issue of what the honourable lady is talking about,

:07:56.:07:59.

police budgets and the number of police officers. We are currently

:08:00.:08:03.

protecting police budgets. We have been doing that since 2015. That I

:08:04.:08:07.

believe is acknowledged across the House. And we have we are not

:08:08.:08:12.

protecting the police budgets but ensuring the police need the cape

:08:13.:08:18.

acts they need to deal with new types of crime, creating the

:08:19.:08:22.

national cybercrime unit and national police agency and this is

:08:23.:08:27.

why what we are doing to cut crime and crime is at a record low. THE

:08:28.:08:35.

SPEAKER: Scott Mann. Can I thank the Prime Minister for introducing the

:08:36.:08:38.

trade and fishery Brexit bill in the Queen's Speech. It'll be welcome in

:08:39.:08:42.

the West Country however we are facing significant challenges with

:08:43.:08:45.

rural Post Office network and the trands flings some branches from

:08:46.:08:49.

community branches to community village stores and community

:08:50.:08:52.

buildings. Some of those moves have been smooth and some haven't. Can I

:08:53.:08:59.

ask her to take a look at this and see if there is anything more the

:09:00.:09:04.

Government can do to help my constituents? My honourable friend

:09:05.:09:07.

again raises an important point and it is right we should recognise the

:09:08.:09:11.

role played in communities by rural Post Offices and rural Post Offices

:09:12.:09:16.

in places like Campbell Ford and in his constituency but in the

:09:17.:09:19.

constituencies of other honourable members. We've invested in the

:09:20.:09:24.

network up to 2018. It is at its most stable for decades but he is

:09:25.:09:29.

right, I would urge the Post Office to help to make it as easy as

:09:30.:09:35.

possible for shops who want it take over postal services to be able to

:09:36.:09:40.

do so. . THE SPEAKER: Diana Johnston. Mrnchts speaker, 2,400

:09:41.:09:44.

people have died as a result of the NHS contaminated blood scandal. More

:09:45.:09:47.

than Hillsborough and all the other disasters over the previous few

:09:48.:09:50.

decades put together. With the excel effort that the former right

:09:51.:09:54.

honourable member for Leigh presented to Parliament on April

:09:55.:09:58.

25th of a criminal cover-up of an industrial scale, will the Prime

:09:59.:10:02.

Minister now do the right thing and order a public inquiry for the whole

:10:03.:10:08.

of the United Kingdom? The honourable lady raises an important

:10:09.:10:11.

issue. I know the thoughts of members of the House will be with

:10:12.:10:18.

all of those who've been affected by this terrible tragedy in relation to

:10:19.:10:21.

contaminated blood. Serious allegations have been made and I

:10:22.:10:24.

would say obviously information that has been brought forward to the

:10:25.:10:29.

House will be looked at bhinsteres at the Department of Health but if

:10:30.:10:33.

any honourable member has further information or evidence they believe

:10:34.:10:36.

would be important that should go to ministers, so they can properly

:10:37.:10:39.

investigate T we are providing more compensation than any previous

:10:40.:10:42.

Government and committed ?125 million of extra funding for those

:10:43.:10:48.

affected for the contaminated blood tragedy last July. But the

:10:49.:10:52.

Department of Health will look at any new evidence that is brought

:10:53.:10:58.

forward. Mr Speaker, rather than celebrating the NHS, the party

:10:59.:11:02.

opposite rather shamelessly have tried to weaponise the NHS with the

:11:03.:11:09.

political campaigning tools. Will the Prime Minister assure me that

:11:10.:11:15.

services like the 999 service will be decided upon, based on clinical

:11:16.:11:19.

decision, not those of politicians that are trying to weaponise our

:11:20.:11:22.

public services? My honourable friend is absolutely right. In

:11:23.:11:26.

relation to the services that are provided by the NHS, it is so

:11:27.:11:30.

important that decisions are taken on a clinical basis by those who

:11:31.:11:34.

understand the needs and requirements of people and in

:11:35.:11:40.

different areas. And that's why we have set up NHS England which has a

:11:41.:11:46.

plan for developing services in the NHS, over a five-year period. It's

:11:47.:11:51.

important that politicians allow clinicians and others in the NHS to

:11:52.:11:57.

make the decisions they need to. I'm thinking of my constituents Konnie

:11:58.:12:01.

and Chris Guard and Charlie at this difficult time. It's clear that if

:12:02.:12:09.

Charlie remains in the UK there is no further treatment available and

:12:10.:12:12.

that life support will be switched off. There are differing views about

:12:13.:12:17.

the charges of the by pass therapy that other children, albeit with

:12:18.:12:20.

less swear forms of Charlie's condition have benefited from. I

:12:21.:12:23.

understand the chances of improvement for Charlie are low but

:12:24.:12:26.

that doctors would be able to say within three months whether Charlie

:12:27.:12:32.

is responding and whether the change is clinically beneficial. If there

:12:33.:12:36.

is any room for discretion within the court ruling for Great Ormond

:12:37.:12:42.

Street to allow Charlie to leave and to transfer his care to doctors at

:12:43.:12:47.

Columbia University and he is sufficiently stable to receive

:12:48.:12:49.

treatment, would the Prime Minister do all she can to bring the

:12:50.:12:52.

appropriate people together to try to make this happen? Can I first of

:12:53.:12:59.

all say to the honourable lady she is right to raise the concerns of

:13:00.:13:03.

her constituents in this matter and I'm sure the thoughts of all members

:13:04.:13:08.

of the House are with the familiar lane Charlie at this exceptionally

:13:09.:13:13.

difficult time. It's an unimaginable position for anybody to be in and I

:13:14.:13:18.

fully understand and appreciate that any parent in these circumstances

:13:19.:13:21.

would want to do everything possible and explore every option for their

:13:22.:13:25.

seriously illchild but I also know that no doctor ever wants to be

:13:26.:13:32.

placed in the terrible position where they have to make such

:13:33.:13:35.

heart-breaking decisions. The honourable lady referred to the fact

:13:36.:13:38.

that we have the court process here. I'm confident Great Ormond Street

:13:39.:13:41.

hospital have and always will consider any offers or new

:13:42.:13:44.

information that has come forward with the consideration of the

:13:45.:13:47.

well-being of a desperately ill child. Mr Speaker, when the Prime

:13:48.:13:51.

Minister and I left our comprehensive schools to go to

:13:52.:13:54.

university, we entered into a privileged elite. Can my right

:13:55.:13:57.

honourable friend confirm that as a result of a tuition fee, introduced

:13:58.:14:01.

by Labour, improved by the coalition, there are now more young

:14:02.:14:09.

people from working class and poor backgrounds staying at university

:14:10.:14:13.

than ever before, because come people say it is fewer. Are they

:14:14.:14:21.

right or are they wrong? I'm very happy to join my honourable friend

:14:22.:14:28.

in relation to this issue. Issue in recognising she and I went to

:14:29.:14:30.

comprehensive schools and universities at a time when the

:14:31.:14:33.

number of people going to university was significantly lower than it is

:14:34.:14:41.

today. And I'm also grateful to her for reminding the House that

:14:42.:14:46.

actually it was the Labour Party that says they would not introduce

:14:47.:14:50.

tuition fees and when they got into Government introduce tuition fees.

:14:51.:14:54.

But what we are seeing - what we are seeing under the current... What we

:14:55.:15:00.

are seeing under the current system is more young people than ever going

:15:01.:15:05.

to university, and crucially, to address the point she raised,

:15:06.:15:08.

disadvantaged 18-year-olds are 40% o % more line e likely to go to

:15:09.:15:14.

university now than they were in 2009.

:15:15.:15:20.

The Prime Minister herself commissioned ship Jones to the port

:15:21.:15:28.

on the Hillsborough families. Even -- given what is before us that the

:15:29.:15:32.

state still does not know how to deal with the victims of tragedy,

:15:33.:15:39.

will she give me the date on when this report will be published? I

:15:40.:15:43.

have not seen the report yet and I cannot give her a date, but she

:15:44.:15:48.

raises an important point. The reason why I asked Bishop James

:15:49.:15:50.

Chester undertake this work was because I was concerned about the

:15:51.:15:55.

ways the bereaved families at Hillsborough had been treated over

:15:56.:15:58.

far too many years and we have seen the result of the CPS decisions last

:15:59.:16:05.

week. This is why we have committed, in the Queen's speech, to

:16:06.:16:08.

introducing an independent and public advocate who will be able to

:16:09.:16:12.

act on the behalf of bereaved families in cases of public

:16:13.:16:15.

disaster, because I think it is important that they are able to have

:16:16.:16:19.

that support alongside them. Too many families just have too, as we

:16:20.:16:23.

have seen in Hillsborough, have two over many years fight to get justice

:16:24.:16:27.

will stop I want to ensure they have help and support in doing that.

:16:28.:16:34.

Given the government's record in freezing fuel duty, will she resist

:16:35.:16:41.

recent calls to raise the duty because it hurts the lowest paid the

:16:42.:16:44.

most? Will she do every thing possible to make sure that when the

:16:45.:16:48.

international oil price falls, this is reflected properly at the pumps

:16:49.:16:51.

so that we can have a Britain that works for every motorist? Can I

:16:52.:16:57.

first of all commend my honourable friend who has been championing this

:16:58.:17:00.

issue for all the years that he has been in the House. And the work that

:17:01.:17:05.

he has done as a great campaigner on this and other issues has been

:17:06.:17:10.

recognised in changes the government has made. I'm pleased that we have

:17:11.:17:15.

been able to do what we've done in relation to holding down the issue

:17:16.:17:19.

on fuel duty, he struggled to tempt me down a path which I will not go

:17:20.:17:23.

down because he knows decisions at these matters are time of fiscal

:17:24.:17:27.

events. It comes to an end after 47 minutes,

:17:28.:17:38.

last week was not an aberration, if you thought it was, you have been

:17:39.:17:44.

proved wrong. It looks like the speaker is planning to run the PMQs

:17:45.:17:48.

for 45 minutes. The exchanges between the front benches, it was

:17:49.:17:53.

like the campaign had not ended. Mr Corbyn making much of the themes he

:17:54.:17:56.

used in their campaign, public sector pay, the need to pay teachers

:17:57.:18:01.

and nurses more and so on. The Prime Minister fighting back saying she is

:18:02.:18:06.

followed three pay review bodies, she's for more to come in, we need

:18:07.:18:12.

to live within our means. It did not get so far but it was an echo of the

:18:13.:18:17.

campaign. One difference, Theresa May made quite a spirited defence of

:18:18.:18:23.

the government's economic record since 2010, which is something she

:18:24.:18:26.

didn't do during the election campaign. That was interesting. We

:18:27.:18:31.

will see where we are in a moment with our panel. But what did the

:18:32.:18:35.

viewers say? Still the same untruths from the Tories on pay in economy, a

:18:36.:18:44.

rise is needed now. But this one, Theresa May seemed to be on form

:18:45.:18:48.

today, her backbenchers hacking her all the way, Mr Corbyn cannot think

:18:49.:18:54.

on his feet and catch the Prime Minister on God. This one, Corbyn is

:18:55.:19:02.

back to his letter from able routine, it doesn't work, the brain

:19:03.:19:07.

is back and Theresa May is still shrill when rattled. And this tweet,

:19:08.:19:13.

has Theresa May ever defended the economic record of the Tories as

:19:14.:19:21.

vigorously as this? Might get her a positive editorial in the standard.

:19:22.:19:28.

To which George Osborne treated, a smiley face. Is that good? Does it

:19:29.:19:36.

apply Kim? I can't tell. -- does it look like him? And we had the first

:19:37.:19:45.

MP not wearing a tie and asking a question, a pink shirt and a nice

:19:46.:19:49.

fitted collar, that started a trend. I am not sure that this will buy to

:19:50.:19:55.

reset may credit with George Osborne's Usher could Theresa May's

:19:56.:20:00.

credit with George Osborne's standard, but she looked more

:20:01.:20:03.

relaxed and comfortable as she has been since her decline. The reasons

:20:04.:20:11.

are discoverable, maybe the pressure is off now that she has fallen as

:20:12.:20:15.

far as she has. It makes it easier to be yourself. In question Time, we

:20:16.:20:22.

saw her try her best to hold the line on public sector pay,

:20:23.:20:26.

reiterating the policy. In the course of doing that, she expressed

:20:27.:20:29.

that the public pay review bodies will be read carefully and their

:20:30.:20:33.

recommendations would be studied and acted upon, or not, as the case

:20:34.:20:37.

would be. The sponsoring ministers of the pay review bodies have given

:20:38.:20:41.

a green light to those bodies to go ahead and bust the 1% pay cut if

:20:42.:20:45.

they want to do it. It would be quite difficult not to do that now.

:20:46.:20:49.

We know that is their natural inclination because they have been

:20:50.:20:53.

building up to this for a couple of years. We're we are to begin with,

:20:54.:21:02.

in my view, a political impossibility of hanging onto a

:21:03.:21:04.

public sector pay cap when sponsoring ministers and others say,

:21:05.:21:10.

it is the time to breach the cat. When the government says they have

:21:11.:21:14.

listen to the electorate, how do you then say, we have decided to ignore

:21:15.:21:18.

that message that we said we were listening to carefully? And when

:21:19.:21:21.

you've got enough MPs and more on the Tory side to stage a big enough

:21:22.:21:26.

rebellion to bring it down, even the government would be minded to dig

:21:27.:21:31.

its heels in. The deficit was just under 50 billion in the last

:21:32.:21:34.

financial year, it's rising this year for some technical reasons, it

:21:35.:21:38.

will be over 50 billion. Does it no longer matter? The deficit does

:21:39.:21:43.

matter which is why all our policies in the general election campaign

:21:44.:21:46.

were accosted. You may disagree with them. No one agreed with them. No

:21:47.:21:56.

experts no expert body agreed with your tax revenue projections. We put

:21:57.:22:05.

forward I costed manifesto. You say that but by constituents didn't

:22:06.:22:10.

believe it. The key thing is it is up for ministers to set the rebid

:22:11.:22:18.

for these bodies for public pay, you say he's given them the green light,

:22:19.:22:21.

it is he in the instruction he's given them, actually going to say,

:22:22.:22:25.

do not impose a cap? That's the question that the government has not

:22:26.:22:30.

answered. How could he do that? He could not. He could say, take into

:22:31.:22:37.

account the new inflation levels. That's what's made the pay cut such

:22:38.:22:43.

an important issue. When the cap was introduced, inflation was close to

:22:44.:22:47.

zero. If you've only got 1%, not much but in real terms, you get a

:22:48.:22:51.

little rise. You would hardly notice it but you get a little rise. Now

:22:52.:23:00.

with a 1% pay cap, you get it cut in real terms. It's difficult to

:23:01.:23:04.

sustain the claim that the inflation target is symmetrical which is what

:23:05.:23:07.

the governor of the Bank of England was insisted on when inflation was

:23:08.:23:12.

near zero. The reality is that positive inflation creates these

:23:13.:23:15.

pressures. We need to keep inflation under control. We will see a one off

:23:16.:23:19.

through the referendum change in the currency level will wash through,

:23:20.:23:24.

and I think we will see inflation stabilise after that. A pay rise in

:23:25.:23:29.

the public sector of 2.5% wouldn't be inflationary, would it? 2% sounds

:23:30.:23:35.

like a small number but when you run to the figures, it would be very

:23:36.:23:41.

expensive. Why did the Prime Minister use grease as an example of

:23:42.:23:45.

a country who had not tackled its deficit? But Greece has been in

:23:46.:23:52.

notorious difficulties. What is its deficit, and why would she raise it

:23:53.:23:56.

if she used it as an example? We seen that in Greece, where taxes

:23:57.:24:01.

haven't been paid and where the government has lived beyond its

:24:02.:24:04.

means, the consequence of running up too much debt has been profound. She

:24:05.:24:08.

wasn't talking about debt, she was talking about the deficit, a

:24:09.:24:12.

different thing, Greece doesn't have address it, it ran a budget surplus

:24:13.:24:18.

last year. What are our deficit as a percentage of GDP? It is just 3%. It

:24:19.:24:27.

is just under, we are just under 3% and Greece is running a surplus, why

:24:28.:24:31.

would you raise that? Greece is an example of where excess in debt is

:24:32.:24:37.

leading to public service is being in trouble. That's not what the

:24:38.:24:40.

Prime Minister was talking about, she was saying it had not got on top

:24:41.:24:45.

of its deficit and that is not what the figures say. The political thing

:24:46.:24:48.

which was interesting is that the Prime Minister 's got a lot of

:24:49.:24:55.

support from the backbenches, and that is I suggest because they know

:24:56.:24:58.

she is living on borrowed time but she'll go at a time of their

:24:59.:25:02.

choosing. So for the moment, they're going to rally behind her until they

:25:03.:25:06.

choose that she doesn't stay there any more. I think that's precisely

:25:07.:25:11.

right. The Conservative backbench at question time now are like spear

:25:12.:25:20.

carriers in this experience drummer, they say nothing until the queue

:25:21.:25:24.

comes to cheer. -- in a Shakespearean drama. The job for now

:25:25.:25:29.

is to stay there and she will achieve that until the recess. We

:25:30.:25:33.

have to exit now. A Shakespearean exit from the stage.

:25:34.:25:36.

We've talked before about Corbynmania and the huge

:25:37.:25:38.

support for the Labour leader on social media.

:25:39.:25:40.

He's not the first politician to get an online following.

:25:41.:25:42.

You might remember the somewhat smaller Milifandom that

:25:43.:25:45.

sprang up around former Labour leader Ed Miliband.

:25:46.:25:48.

But this week it's been suggested that there's a new unlikely

:25:49.:25:51.

What greater pleasure can there be for a true born Englishman

:25:52.:26:00.

or true born Englishwoman, to listen to our own

:26:01.:26:04.

Mr Speaker, or my right honourable friend the member for Buckingham,

:26:05.:26:09.

as he now is, has a reputation for being a moderniser.

:26:10.:26:12.

This is the word I use with some caution.

:26:13.:26:20.

Can we indulge in the floxinoxinihilipilification

:26:21.:26:23.

There are times when a nation needs a hero.

:26:24.:26:27.

Now might not be one of those times, but there seems to be loads

:26:28.:26:36.

of people at the moment who just really love Jacob Rees-Mogg.

:26:37.:26:41.

Maybe it's because he himself posts to social media.

:26:42.:26:44.

Maybe because he's had such a strong and youthful

:26:45.:26:49.

And maybe it's because he seems to have cross-party support.

:26:50.:26:56.

Whatever it is, The Rees-Mogg has inspired a generation

:26:57.:27:00.

of Photoshoppers and meme creaters on the Internet.

:27:01.:27:02.

So much so that someone even interviewed him about what he thinks

:27:03.:27:10.

of these memes and that's been really popular.

:27:11.:27:12.

I always think it's important to sit comfortably in the chamber,

:27:13.:27:14.

particularly when you're in there for a long time.

:27:15.:27:17.

There's even a campaign to make him PM.

:27:18.:27:22.

What is it about Rees-Mogg that you love so much?

:27:23.:27:25.

I think it's because he's a little bit eccentric.

:27:26.:27:29.

He doesn't take themselves so seriously.

:27:30.:27:31.

So how many people have signed up for the campaign?

:27:32.:27:34.

So we have just over 12,000 signatures so far.

:27:35.:27:37.

Yeah, it is, I've got to say I'm actually surprised that we've got

:27:38.:27:46.

this big in such a short period of time.

:27:47.:27:51.

His support isn't just the grassroots of his power base

:27:52.:27:54.

But as his local paper once said, he's got Mogg-mentum.

:27:55.:28:08.

So, is their love for him in the studio? Absolutely massive love for

:28:09.:28:17.

Jake, we are all fans. As leader? Who knows what happens with due

:28:18.:28:26.

course. We need to guess the year, it is 1978. So, Minister, hit that

:28:27.:28:30.

red buzzer. Brexit negotiations are over! Here is the winner.

:28:31.:28:42.

Congratulations, it is 1978. One o'clock News is starting on BBC One,

:28:43.:28:46.

I will be back at the earlier time of 11am tomorrow because of

:28:47.:28:50.

Wimbledon, on BBC Two. Hope to see you then.

:28:51.:28:52.

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